The “Magdala stone table”

Its function and role in determining the liturgical furniture in the ancient synagogue

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12372641
AutoresZeev Weiss (0000-0001-8951-9527, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen34
Número2
Páginas608-631
Fecha de publicación2021-10-25
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Roman Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1047-7594 • E-ISSN: 2331-5709
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1047759421000544
OpenAlexW3209568359
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas21

The discovery of low stone tables at Magdala and a few other sites in the Galilee and Golan allows us to examine, for the first time, this liturgical piece of furniture used by several communities in the late Second Temple period and the first centuries of the Common Era. This article defines the purpose of these stone tables based on analysis of the archaeological finds and examination of the literary sources associated with the Torah-reading ceremony conducted in the synagogues of ancient Palestine. The reading of the Torah throughout this long period was conducted standing with the open Torah scroll held in raised hands. Our study demonstrates that this table was not intended to be used for reading the Torah, but rather functioned as a low stand upon which the scroll was placed before the Torah-reading ceremony, during the breaks between the readers, and after completion of the ceremony

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Ceremony · Judaism · Linguistics · Literature · Period (music · Reading (process · Scroll · Table (database · Torah · Visual arts · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Classics · Computer Science · History · Philosophy